Special Feature - Kids@Play/Beano

This is going to be ‘BLAM!’

As Beano continues to entertain generations, the company has partnered with KAP Toys to launch a new toy range. Marianna Casal spoke to Rob Glenny, head of Commercial & New Business at Beano Studios, and Nat Southworth, MD at KAP Toys, to hear about the power of Beano and the opportunities the new toy line offers to retailers.

“Beano has always celebrated kids”, explains Rob, “so at the heart of Beano is fun, mischief, and the joy of being a kid.” The Beano comic publishes weekly, which allows the writers to adapt each issue to what’s currently of interest to kids. Each issue reflects pop culture, with references to the latest games, music stars such as Taylor Swift and new film releases among others, while maintaining its Beano core. The team at Beano speaks to children every week, thanks to the research provided by the Beano Studios insights agency, Beano Brain. With children’s lives always reflected in the editorial content, the comic gently yet constantly evolves with its audience. This is one of the reasons Beano has been able to remain relevant and popular for 85 years, while staying true to its core DNA. “We have a 200-page ‘Bible’ of how to do Beano, and there are rules for all the artists who create the comic,” explains Rob. “It’s the ultimate book of mischief, which allows us to offer the same entertaining experience to the kids today as we did for their parents and grandparents. Adults who subscribe for the young people in their lives often mention that they want their children or grandchildren to have as much fun as they had while reading the comic. They also tell us Beano is a cross-generational bridge that unites them in laughter and pranks, regardless of age.”

Readers of the comic are aged between 6-12 years. Kids can start with Beano from as young as six, often an age where reading is still a work in progress. As the comics are very visual in their storytelling, they are also highly accessible, serving a ‘scaffolded’ reading experience in which the images support digestible text. This aids younger children with their reading. As they grow, they understand more of the humour and start making their own illustrations or comic stories.

“Our audience is extremely creative, and they love to see their creations in the comic,” adds Rob. The team takes great pride in listening to its target audience and answering these kids’ creative needs, Beano recently partnered with KAP Toys for a licensed Build-a-Comic Kit, offering Beano stencils, frames and stamps with which they can hone their skills and talent. The new kit is part of a range launched in Sainsbury’s nationwide in November2023, which also includes a joke box with pranks from the comic as well as Minnie, Dennis and Gnasher Squishii plush.

KAP Toys MD, Nat Southworth, says: “What the Sainsbury’s experience has shown us is that with a property like Beano, you can merchandise all the products together in one FSDU. A challenge that we often have in the toy industry is that you sell the plush to the plush buyer, you sell the comic book kit to the arts & crafts buyer and then the joke box kind of falls into this no man's land of jokes and gags. The FSDU has shown us is that you can sell Beano as a package, and it can sell anywhere.”

Rob tells us that few IPs can take as much pride in connecting generations, friends and families together the way Beano does. This was proven by the comic’s 85th anniversary, which was celebrated by fans, press and licensing partners alike last summer and was followed by Minnie the Minx’s 70th anniversary in November. “Beano’s characters are iconic, and we were thrilled to team up with kids’ role-model, Euros winner, Lioness and children’s author Leah Williamson to celebrate Minnie the Minx”, adds Rob. “Minnie’s anniversary went brilliantly. From ITV News to Woman’s Hour and beyond, Minnie was everywhere and it really was a special moment”.

To mark the occasion, Leah guest-edited the comic’s special issue, and publisher Farshore launched Minnie’s first-ever ‘boomic’ (an adventure book told with funny pictures). A fan-favourite, Minnie is described as a ‘true trailblazer’ who has shown generations of kids that it’s okay to carve their own path.

This is a recurrent message in the comic. Originality and humour are key drivers for the artists who create the comic, as well as for the readers. Beano has a readership of half-a-million per week and 59,000 kids watch the Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! TV show, which was released in 2017 and has remained one of the top five shows on CBBC. The property also has its own website, Beano.com, which attracts 1m users per month with a variety of quizzes, jokes, games and fun facts. The brand also partners with organisations to create fun family days out at local attractions.

“Beano fans were very excited about the toys: we had a very positive reception,” says Nat, who recounts how, following the Sainsburys FSDU weekend launch, the KAP team returned to the office on Monday to a deluge of voicemails and emails from customers asking which branches of Sainsburys stocked the Beano toys. He adds: “This has encouraged us to press forward with new prototypes, which are already in the works, and we hope to be able to share more details on the upcoming Beano products at London Toy Fair.”

As a weekly subscriber to the comic himself, Nat is very excited to be partnering with the brand. He explains: “The beauty of Beano is that it works for all ages. The level of parent and grandparent recognition is unbelievable, and Beano triggers memories of happy times. I’d find it very, very hard to give an example of another brand that has a similar recognition level – we’re talking Harry Potter level. Even just the Beano annual on its own could support a toy line with the sales it achieves. Then add in the weekly comic and it’s a no-brainer for retailers to support the toys.”

Since 2016, when Beano Studios was created, the brand has continued to see sustained growth in its audience each year. The latest collaboration with KAP Toys, which sees the team share its enthusiasm and appreciation for Beano, is now set to fuel the continued expansion of a brand loved by, and for, generations.